38
Bain
Two Days Before
My phone vibrated in my pants pocket, but I ignored it as I finished changing Elda’s diaper and fixed her sleeper. Her little legs kicked at me, and she was full of smiles. The way she lit up whenever she saw me would never get old. That she looked just like her mother only made the way she looked at me even more magical. She and Kella were little daddy’s girls, and I was their willing slave for life.
Alessia was just as much so, but she was so attached to Ciana that I begrudgingly had to admit that I was slightly jealous of my youngest daughter. I loved and adored her just as much as I did her sisters, but our connection wasn’t nearly as strong as hers to her mother, or mine with the older two girls.
Picking up Elda off the changing table, I kissed her cheek, making her turn her head and try to kiss me back. She did that so often, I made sure to shave twice a day so my scruff didn’t scratch her. Laughing, my heart so full I thought it might explode with happiness, I placed her in her crib.
My phone went off again as I checked on Kella and Alessia one more time. Both of them were still wide awake but content just to gaze around. The three of them got to sleep on their own fairly well, but they woke up at least once each night. Crazily enough, I enjoyed getting up with Ciana to help. It felt like our bond grew deeper with each three-a.m. feeding we shared.
Pulling out my phone, I saw it was Conor and debated sending it to voice mail. Ciana was in the shower, and I wanted as much cuddle time with her as I could get. Since the doctor had cleared her for all activities, I’d been taking things slow with her. Letting her set the pace for when we were intimate again. After all the fuckups I’d made in the past, I wasn’t about to make any more. She was in full control this time around.
But goddamn, I was losing my mind. Wanting her, but keeping my hands to myself, was killing me. My self-control was stronger than even I’d given myself credit for, because I was a walking case of blue balls twenty-four seven. My wife had only gotten sexier, her body a wonderland that showed her courage in birthing all three of our precious miracles safely.
When Alessia had struggled in the beginning, I’d been terrified that Ciana would hold true to her threat to never speak to me again, never forgive me for my role in putting them all in danger to begin with. But she’d only leaned on me more as we watched Alessia grow bigger with each passing day in the NICU. It had been an agonizing two months with her and the other two separated, but thankfully, she was finally home with us and thriving.
The phone went silent, only for a text to pop up immediately after.
Conor: You’re going to want to hear what I have to say. I’ve got news about Vitucci.
Equal parts curious and concerned, I called him back. He’d been in New York the last few weeks, keeping an eye on Ryan for me. Christmas hadn’t been as magical as I’d hoped it would be, and I knew it was because Ciana had been missing her family. That she was so tired from all she did for the girls all day long had been a small factor, I knew that, but it was mostly because she was used to having a huge family event with her parents, siblings, and cousins.
I was hoping the next Christmas would be markedly brighter and more magical for her.
“Ryan Vitucci is a married man,” were the first words out of my friend’s mouth as soon as he answered.
“Yeah, okay,” I said with a snort. “Ciana said he was devoted to his Nova. No way he got married to anyone but her, and she’s dead.”
“Remember the noise I’d heard coming from Colombia? You told me to make sure nothing touched Vitucci, so I kept my eye on him rather than what was going on down there. Well, turned out, Nova was there all along.”
I stood there, my jaw on the floor as I listened to Conor tell me how Nova Hannigan had been in Colombia the whole time. As it all began to click into place, my heart started pounding, and a grin split my face. If what he was saying was true, then this would make Ciana ecstatic.
But I didn’t want to tell her that her beloved cousin was alive and well, only to have to leave for Ireland in the next few days. Deciding I would make it a surprise for her on my return and include the proof she would undoubtedly insist on in order to believe me, I told Conor what I needed.
The fact that I finally had to go to Ireland and deal with Cori was not on my list of things I wanted to do, but I’d promised Ciana I would deal with the bitch, and it was past time to finish her off. With each box that arrived for her with another one of Declan’s body parts, she’d gotten more and more hysterical. The men who were watching her had told Conor that she was a nervous wreck these days. The slightest sound made her scream like she was being attacked. It was a wonder her neighbors in the run-down apartment she had been able to find hadn’t had her committed yet.
Just thinking of having to be away from my wife and daughters for any length of time made me antsy. But I had so many surprises to bring back with me that I was excited to get it over with so I could see the look on my beauty’s face once I returned.